Broadcom STA driver does not work for BCM4313[14e4:4727] with proposed kernel 3.2.0-53

[Po-Hsu Lin]

[SRU Justification]

Impact:
Broadcom BCM4313 does not work with the proprietary driver.

Step:
1. Install Ubuntu 12.04.1 -proposed (kernel 3.2.0-52), and boot to desktop
2. Try to connect to bg/n wireless network.
3. Install the Broadcom STA wireless driver.
4. Repeat step 2.
5. Reboot, and repeat step 2.

Expected result:
Wireless network should work after the proprietary driver was installed.

Actual result:
Wireless network does not work at all.

09:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Dell Device 0012
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
        Memory at f7e00000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
        Capabilities: <access denied>
        Kernel driver in use: wl
        Kernel modules: wl, bcma, brcmsmac

(kernel module "wl" was added after the proprietary driver was installed.)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: bcmwl-kernel-source 6.20.155.1+bdcom-0ubuntu0.0.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-53.81-generic 3.2.50
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-53-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu17.4
Architecture: amd64
Date: Tue Sep 3 22:13:06 2013
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120823.1)
MarkForUpload: True
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: bcmwl
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Anthony Wong (anthonywong)]

@Po-Hsu, can you run 'lspci -nn' to find out the PCI ID? Thanks.

[Po-Hsu Lin (cypressyew)]

Sure, it's [14e4:4727]
09:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter [14e4:4727] (rev 01)

[Po-Hsu Lin (cypressyew)]

More tests:

Steps:
1. Boot to desktop, finish SRU test.
2. Install the newest proprietary driver. (6.20.155.1+bdcom-0ubuntu0.0.1) And test the wireless.
3. Reboot and run SRU test.

Expected Result.
1. Wireless related test cases should failed.
2. The proprietary driver should make it work.
3. Those wireless tests now should pass.

Actual results:
1. Wireless tests failed as expected.
2. Wireless works after the proprietary driver was installed.
3. After the SRU tests, wireless still failed.

Daniel informed me this might be a similar issue to bug 1097519, and bug 1154219
After the driver was downgraded (to 5.100.82.38+bdcom-0ubuntu6)
Wireless works on 201104-7784, but not working on 201105-8050

[Taihsiang Ho (tai271828)]

proposed kernel 3.2.0-54.82 has this issue on 201105-8050

[bobptz (bobptz)]

Is there a workaround for this? If it is a kernel issue, shouldn't the development team have already fixed this?

I also have the bcm4313 and the wifi failed at one of the 3 routers I tried to connect.

[Alberto Milone (albertomilone)]

@Po-Hsu: does bcmwl 6.20.155.1+bdcom-0ubuntu0.0.1 work with the previous kernel?

[bobptz (bobptz)]

According to this, the BCM4313 chip ID is not supported.
http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#Known_issues

So this may not be a bug after all.

MAybe here are the correct instructions on how to build a workable driver?
http://www.broadcom.com/support/802.11/linux_sta.php

[Alberto Milone (albertomilone)]

Does the new driver solve the problem?

package for amd64:
http://people.canonical.com/~amilone/bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.141+bdcom-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb

package for i386:
http://people.canonical.com/~amilone/bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.141+bdcom-0ubuntu1_i386.deb

[bobptz (bobptz)]

I just tried the amd64. It did NOT work for me.

I see the same behaviour.

[Alberto Milone (albertomilone)]

what's the output of the following command?

lspci -nn

[bobptz (bobptz)]

here is the output of the command "lspci -nn":

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller [8086:0154] (rev 09)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller [8086:0156] (rev 09)
00:16.0 Communication controller [0780]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 [8086:1e3a] (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 [8086:1e2d] (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller [8086:1e20] (rev 04)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 [8086:1e10] (rev c4)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 [8086:1e12] (rev c4)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3 [8086:1e14] (rev c4)
00:1d.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 [8086:1e26] (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 7 Series Chipset Family LPC Controller [8086:1e5f] (rev 04)
00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation 7 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] [8086:1e03] (rev 04)
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller [8086:1e22] (rev 04)
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter [14e4:4727] (rev 01)
04:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM57785 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe [14e4:16b5] (rev 10)
04:00.1 SD Host controller [0805]: Broadcom Corporation BCM57765/57785 SDXC/MMC Card Reader [14e4:16bc] (rev 10)

[bobptz (bobptz)]

It is working now!

Just tested again with the 2 routers it was failing to connect. I connected to both of them.

Maybe it was an update AFTER the driver? Maybe a couple of reboots after the driver installation? I do not know what has changed, but now I can connect.

[Po-Hsu Lin (cypressyew)]

Hey Alberto,
This issue still happen on 3.2.0-56 proposed kernel
But this time, with the proprietary driver (version 6.20.155.1+bdcom-0ubuntu0.0.2) installed, wireless works on 201105-8050, but not 201104-7784

@bobptz
Since this device, BCM4313, is listed in the description section of jockey, I think either it should be supported or this model should be removed from the supported list in jockey.

[Po-Hsu Lin (cypressyew)]

Hello Alberto,
the driver you provided in #9 works both for 201105-8050 and 201104-7784 on the proposed 3.2.0-56 kernel.
Thanks!

[bobptz (bobptz)]

@Po-Hsu Lin

I am sorry, what is "jockey"? What am I supposed to do?

Sometimes in the past when I had problem, I would re-install the driver (which I have downloaded) and I would be ok again:
bcmwl-kernel-source_6.30.223.141+bdcom-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb

In a coffee-shop I go sometimes, they changed the ISP and their router. After that I could not connect any more. I tried to re-install the driver, but the installation procedure would not work any more. The INSTALL button would be dissabled.

So it seems I still have a problem.

Is there a newer driver around?

[Po-Hsu Lin (cypressyew)]

Hello bobptz,
jockey is the tool for installing proprietary drivers in Precise,
you can open it by searching "Additional Drivers" in your dash

if you're using other distribution, it will be another tool called "software-properties-gtk"

To your question, I will suggest you to make sure your driver does not work before you re-install the driver, if it's still working outside the coffee shop, this might be a problem from the shop owner's router setting, not a driver issue.

[Po-Hsu Lin (cypressyew)]

This bug stuck us again with the bcmwl driver version 6.30.223.141 got removed from the repository, see bug 1474801